Al tavolo con buoni amici non si invecchia - Italian proverb.

At the table with good friends you do not become old.

Mama Mia...was there ever a LOT of food. After all, this was Italy. It did take me a good 2 days before I had my first gelato, but I definitely made up for it. So many pastries to choose from for breakfast, multiple courses at lunch and dinner, flowing wine, and, yes, stretchy clothes are the best to bring. We made our own dinner one night under the guidance of chef Paolo (it was perfecto), we learned how to make ricotta cheese at a farm (and even milked the cow). We ate bruschetta with homemade olive oil, fresh tomatoes and basil, fries in a cup with a cold beer in Ragusa, and sampled plenty of local wines and liqueurs. I finally decided that mushrooms aren't "mushy" they're "spongy."(still not fond of them)! Fragola (strawberry) and cicciolata (dark chocolate) makes the best combo for gelato. Chocolate from Modica is very good!

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We enjoyed a meal and the company of both a noble family and a farm family , visited a mozzarella di bufala farm and sampled the different flavors and types of bufala cheeses. Did you know they can make gelato from bufala milk? Creamy!

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Gelato, granite, tartufo - sampled them all! Room for more? Always.

"it's spongy, not mushy!"

There's gelato, and then there's hazelnut chocolate decadence, or what's called tartufo.

Oh, yum.m.m...... and here's how it's made

Everyone is eyeing the cannoli with anticipation! Is he going to share?

Homemade wine and bread hot out of the oven, a bowl of olives from the orchard. Ah.h.h...

"Amaro del Capo consists of herbs, flowers, fruit and roots from the Calabrian region infused in the finest alcohol to aid digestion and give a feeling of well being." Yes, after a couple of these, I definitely had a wonderful warm and fuzzy feeling of well being.